shibori'd

So I had this piece of raw silk that had previously been dyed in a couple of baths. Kind of interesting, but not that POW! it could be...I thought I would try out my newly learned trick of shibori and overdye it once again. I decided on horizontal lines of stitching about an inch apart (done without a ruler), with a circle near the upper right. Here is the stitching in progress:


I used red hand quilting thread because I had it and I thought it was strong enough to withstand the pulling force of gathering it up. Here the piece is all gathered up and ready for the dye bath:


I wanted to go with a darker blue. I used vinegar to set the Procion MX dyes, and left it overnight:


Here it is all washed out. In more ways than one.


The detail is subtle, which may be ok. I can think of two reasons for the results I got. It is cold here. Maybe I should have put the dye bath in a warmer place; but I think it was warm enough. The real reason, which I kind of already knew from a previous dyeing experience but had forgotten, is probably the water here. It's kind of hard even though it goes through a softener. I was going to use bottled or filtered water the next time I dyed, and I forgot. It is, however, only fabric; and probably I can do something good with it.

But the shibori stitching took a lot of time, and I'm not sure I like the results much better than if it had been pole wrapped. But what else am I do on a day like this?:


That is all.